140 Children to Receive Free Dental Care

The University of Nebraska College of Dentistry is hosting Children’s Dental Day Friday. The event will be held at the College of Dentistry and will take place from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. CT.

Dr. David Brown, an organizer of the event, says the college wanted to do something positive for the entire state of Nebraska.

One-hundred and forty pre-screened children from all over the state will attend. Brown says the pre-screening makes for a more effective event because the College of Dentistry can get to work right away. Brown says they use information provided by local public health departments and school nurses to find the children who are in need. Some of the participants will have never seen a dentist before, but they will be seeing dental and dental hygiene students who will be doing a majority of the work.

“We provide care; we do a lot of care," Brown said. "We probably do about $100,000 worth of services to the children: cleaning, filings, extractions and some root canals and stainless steel crowns. So we do a lot of dentistry and then we sprinkle into that some educational demonstrations and activities to give them a better appreciation for all health.”

Friday’s event is the first Children’s Dental Days the College of Dentistry provides throughout the year. Another event will be held over the summer in the panhandle. The two combined events will help over 400 children.